The leaves are falling and the air is getting cooler. The earth is preparing for its big slumber and the days are getting shorter while the nights gets longer. These things remind us that life is not permanent and that death is, paradoxically, a part of life. The weekend of October 31st thru Monday, November 2nd is a holy triduum …
Desires in the Darkness
Often what stands out about people in Bible stories is not their virtue but their very strong wants. Makes me wonder—do our desires propel us in ways that God can use?
Hungry People
I require a lot of snacks. Do you? Something about this phase of my life: little ones who require a lot of attention, nursing, interrupted sleep, balancing an strong desire to create a more just universe with the concrete limitations of what I’m able to tackle each day. I imagine many of you can relate– whether you have kiddos or not. …
Giving It Away: Money and God-Talk
This season as the leaves fall and reveal the beauty of the bare branch it seems a good time to talk about stripping away non essentials. The lectionary points us to a passage in Mark 10:17-31 where Jesus directs a wealthy questioner to sell everything, (everything!), give the money to the poor, and travel with the movement. This story has …
Further thoughts: Divorce, children and the Garden of Eden
I love the creation stories, so my spidey senses start tingling whenever I see a reference. As we were talking on Sunday, particularly when Anne spoke of the wholeness that God desires, I started noticing that this passage in Mark could be one of those references. In How to Read the Jewish Bible, Marc Zvi Brettler makes the case that …